What is the real cause of a high egg count in manure? Is it something that each individual horse builds up immunity or pasture management ? I have one horse in her own pristine pasture except for the manure pile that is not removed and others add to.There is also an adjoining paddock on one side that has built up manure that is never removed. My mare came to the area a year ago and the egg count continues to climb. I have used panacur power pac and I will use it again before another sample is tested.
The egg count in the manure sampled is a reflection of the burden of adult worms in that particular horse sampled. It is more accurate if the lab will report to you the number of eggs per gram than just giving an estimation in the form of 1 - 4+. It is true that some horses can build an immune response to these worms and in a sense almost self deworm where as others are unable to do so. That is why for example if you have 4 horses out on the same pasture and individually submit fecal sample on all four, results can come back with some of the horses having large numbers where as others have very minimal levels. Depending on how long the land the horse is pastured on has been home to horses in the past, there might be a very high egg count level in the soil alone (not just manure) requiring more frequent deworming. The lab should report the type of worm the egg belongs to and this will help you deworm accordingly.
Dr. Braha,
This horse moved from Texas to upstate NY one year ago and may be still getting used
to the new environment. The count started at 300 and went to 750, 850 and now 1100.
Can she still build an immune response in her new environment ? How do you feel about pellet wormers ? I hoped the NY winters would kill anything in the soil, but the pasture is small. I had two horses on 20 acres in FL in the 80's and never heard of worming. Environment is everything !
Thank you for your time,
Sara
Hi Sara,
Sorry I was not able to get back to you yesterday evening. I have not had any personal experience using the pelleted wormers as I have had very good results with the paste dewormers for control of parasites and my prefence is to stick with those. My concern with regards XXXXX XXXXX pelleted dewormer is the fact that they are fed to a horse on a daily basis over a prolonged length of time. This can contribute to the problem of resistance in the worm population. The worms are capable of evolving and modifying their mechanisms of survival when exposed to a drug but not killed, a trait they can then pass onto their next generation. This results in deworming products that are no longer effective.
The dewormer you had mentioned (panacur power pac) contains a benzimadazole as the active ingredient. This is a wonderful broad spectrum dewormer however it also has documented resistance problems.
Suprisingly, but unfortunately the egg form the worm can remain viable in the soil for many years despite the cold temperatures we endure. Continue to monitor her pattern but my thoughts are she will remain a horse that will require the assistance of deworming products to keep her parasite burden in check.
You have mentioned three different counts that have been performed. Have you altered type of deworming product inbetween these readings? How long of a time frame between readings? How long after deworming are these samples being submitted to the lab for analysis?
Thank you for your answer Dr. Braha.
My 900 pound Arabian mare arrived with a count of 300 on 8/2010 and
was wormed early 10/2010 and mid 12/2010 with a single panacur and ivermectin.
3/1/11 the count was 0 when the vet came out because she appeared lethargic and was diagnosed a "bacterial infection".
We had a hard winter, but it was not until after this that she lost weght.
Late April Spring check showed the count to be 750 and I was told to use panacur.
I brought a sample to the clinic early July and the count was 850. At this point the recommendation was for the power pac.
The Fall check up last month yeilded the 1100 count and power pac was recommended again.
Thank you for your time and have a great day,
Good morning Sara,
Provided you can keep the egg count less than 250 eggs per grams I would be happy with that result.
What I would recommend is having a fecal egg count done, deworming with an ivermectin product to target the adult worms. Wait 14 days and recheck egg count to make sure there is no resistance. I would then follow up with ivermectin again on day 21 if the egg count was significantly high initially but showed a fair amount of reduction with the ivermectin. This will help target the immature round worms (now adults) which were present but not susceptible to the ivermectin in the first go round.
If weight loss is a concern I also recommend blood work in addition.
Hope this helps
Hi Dr. Braha,
Success !
The count was zero after 14 days and I did the 21 day follow up.
My question is, what should I do next ?
Our weather has been mild so far.
The next time I would think to do anything would be March.
Thank you,
Good Morning Sarah,Excellent news! You can hold off until spring time March/ April to proceed with your next deworming.All the best,Dr. Braha
OK. I will use a different product then to rotate.
Let me know if there is anything you recommend
or a schedule from March to November.
Thank you and enjoy this magical season,